1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the downflow isomerization of an epoxide to the corresponding alcohol in the presence of alumina catalyst.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known to isomerize epoxides to alcohols with alumina, e.g. E. Klein and W. Rojahn, Dragoco Rep., 18, 239-243 (1971) in English. In the process of this publication, about 23 times excess of alumina is used relative to the terpinolene-4,8-oxide starting material.
When the applicant tried to use catalytic amounts of alumina, it was found that the alumina catalyst was very rapidly deactivated in the course of the reaction, resulting in long reaction times and large amounts of catalyst to achieve reasonably high conversions.